TERRAFORMING TERRA
We discuss and comment on the role agriculture will play in the containment of the CO2 problem and address protocols for terraforming the planet Earth.
A model farm template is imagined as the central methodology. A broad range of timely science news and other topics of interest are commented on.

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

7 Ways to Access Inner Peace Now – What Life In New York Has Taught Me

An interesting question. Is our mind which shares so much with us, our physical mind? The amount of nonsense strongly supports just that. After all our subconscious has massive resources and real knowledge to draw from.

We identify two components here. Add in the contribution of our protective spirit and any other enemy spirit and the mind must qualify who is talking and be careful. Meditation helps to tame this dangerous noise and so does developed rational thinking.

Thus reaching inner peace is a challenge that must be undertaken by all in the face of internal distraction. the good news is that it becomes easier with practice.

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7 Ways to Access Inner Peace Now – What Life In New York Has Taught Me

It was a cold, grey and windy morning in
New York City, one of the thousands I’ve experienced here where
everyone’s neck automatically shortens by two inches as they are
attempting to shrink into their winter coats while holding onto their
Starbucks coffee and battling through the crowds in Manhattan.

The train was more crowded than usual
thanks to the presence of people who would otherwise walk or bike to
work, and I stood for what seemed like an eternity with purses rubbing
against my back and elbows in my ribs, while attempting to ground my
energy into mother earth and breathe in the mixed aromas of BO, coffee
and stale subway air.

On days like this I could really use
some divine guidance, but I knew enough not to expect an ascended master
to show up in the subway car and grace me with a pair of wings to fly
out of the dark tunnels. My wings had to come from myself, and at that
moment, my only savior was to practice allowing, or being in the moment
without judgment or resistance.

Being In the Now

The practice of being in the now has
always been a struggle for me and I cannot even blame New York for it,
though I have noticed folks outside of New York are a lot more laid back
and do not lose it when they have to wait more than 8 minutes for their
food to be served at restaurants.

We live in a time where we have a
million ways to escape the present moment such as replaying past
scenarios, obsessing over the future, multi-tasking, watching reality
shows, throwing tantrums on Twitter or in real life, the list goes on
and on. No wonder drugs such as Ambien, Prozac and Xanax are household
favorites next to sugar and Plasma TVs.

Lao Tzu said it best, “If you are
depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living
in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.” How
many of us are actually at peace? What is the cost for living outside
the now?

Come back to the breath, come back to
this moment. I could either allow it to unfold, or I could launch into
full attack mode by fighting the smell and the crowd with endless mental
chatter that would contain occasional R rated rants. Speaking from
experience, I had never won that fight and despite the ferocious battle
in my head, reality would always go on like the love from the movie
Titanic.

The mind loves to categorize, judge,
speculate, worry, project, complain, compare and compete. The mind
convinces us its voice is the absolute authority because it has the
label “commander-in-chief” written across its forehead. The mind wants
us to believe we are that voice and there is no separation between our
thoughts and our essence. The dirty secret the mind refuses to share
with us is that its voice is always filtered by the belief system we
currently hold onto and our past conditioning, so if we were bitten by a
dog when we were kids, even if Fluffy the poodle yawns in front of us,
we are given a dose of anxiety and commanded to run. Left untamed, the
mind can turn into an over-indulged tyrant like Joffrey Baratheon from
Game of Thrones who wants to convince us eating the entire pie of pizza
plus the tres leches made by granny with 3 bottles of wine is a far more
pleasing option than eating spinach and seaweed for dinner. Throughout
the years, I had to learn the hard way not to trust everything my mind
eagerly shared with me on a day to day basis.

Back to the breath, the breath that connects us to the source.

Back to the moment, the moment that is neither good nor bad, it simply is.

Back to the now, the now that anchors us in our Being.

Back to the present, the present that can only be claimed and opened if we invite ourselves into its space.

Life’s Gentle Reminders

As I walked out of the train into Time
Square, I realized I was running a little late for my appointment and
since I had a rather long walk, thoughts of worry began rushing into my
mind like the Manhattan traffic and the “Do Not Walk” sign at every red
light simply did not help.

Had I not believed my thoughts, I would
have seen it as one of life’s gentle reminders for me to slow down and
center. However, since I chose to believe the priority at that moment
was to squeeze as many seconds out of the present moment as possible,
something that would have made Lao Tzu turn in his grave, that led me to
the rather unconscious and self-sabotaging decision of running through
red lights just because my life was obviously not as important as those
15 seconds (though I was hoping for 45) I would have gained from
throwing myself in front of the buses that were crossing and honking.

Eventually, life’s reminders became not
so gentle and with a loud honk, I began running like a maniac from a cab
that apparently auditioned for The Fast and Furious. Living in
a city where it is not only the norm but also an encouraged practice to
race against time, even if it does not get us physically killed, to be
constantly rushing from point A to point B whether they are physical
locations or life goals leads to mental and emotional death that is
characterized by continuous stress, restlessness, inability to show up
in the current moment and living like the walking dead while staring at
the iPhone. When we are constantly living elsewhere, it drastically
reduces the quality of the life we are living now simply because no one
is here to live it.

We have made a rather interesting
agreement with divinity and that is, whenever we play small, to me it
means surrendering our free will to the mind, our external environment
reflects the inner helplessness right away again and again until we
shift out of our unconsciousness and come back to the present moment
where full consciousness resides. Life’s gentle reminders can turn quite
fierce when you ignore them, and running from a speeding cab proves the
point. For some people, reminders show up as illnesses so they are
forced to take care of their bodies and for others, failures and endless
misery in careers and relationships direct their attention from
external solutions to internal insights.

I know moving to a more relaxed
environment such as Costa Rica like we have been planning to would help
my sweetheart and I live a more balanced life, but I do not for one
second expect the shift to come from the outside. If I do not practice
presence while I am in New York City — which has to be one of the
world’s finest “presence practice classrooms” simply because I have
nowhere to go but inward — I would probably be shifting the
responsibility of my inner peace to the mosquitoes and howler monkeys
while I am meditating on the beach in Costa Rica.

The mind is all about Doing, and the
higher self is all about Being. Without mastering Being anywhere, even
the most tranquil place on earth cannot offer the gift of stillness
because stillness requires a conscious choice. Inner peace is not the
product of the external but rather the result of an internal decision of
being present, and presence comes from stepping out of the mind and
into the divine observer (soul, higher self, true self, God presence,
etc) which is who we truly are. The moment we choose to become aware of
our stream of thought and observe it without feeding into it, we are
fully conscious. In that state of presence, there can be no feeling
other than peace and connectedness.

7 Ways to Access Presence

There are many ways to be in the now and
one does not need to be in the middle of Time Square surrounded by
stressed out New Yorkers, or in an ashram in a remote location of the
world to embody it. Breath work, yoga, and meditation are certainly
great ways for us to center, but watch out for the mind’s favorite way
to get out of surrendering its power by providing you with a list of
seemingly valid excuses as to why you cannot do this thing. They include
but are not limited to: lack of funds, lack of time, lack of energy,
lack of interest, yoga studio is too far, meditation is too boring, I
cannot sit still, my apartment is too small, the traffic outside my
window is too loud, I don’t believe any of it will work, I have to take
care of “real life,” my cat doesn’t like it, my dog barks too much, etc.

Below is a list of my go-to practices
that even the busiest person on Earth can adopt to cultivate presence.
(Consistency is key.)

Just Breathe: Pay
attention to the breath and consciously slow it down to a pace that is
comfortable for you. Do it for a few moments. Repeat several times a day
or as many times as you desire.

Meditating With the Senses: If
sitting in a corner with candles and crystal singing bowls isn’t your
thing, you can meditate literally anywhere. Whatever activity you are
engaged in, bring in all of your senses and allow them to guide you. If
you are taking a walk, take in the scent of the air, the texture of
earth beneath your feet, pay attention to your surroundings and colors,
feel the air around your fingertips, imagine tasting the air if you want
to, feel your body moving, etc. You can engage your senses in any
activity in life which means anything can turn into a meditation.

Let the Consciousness Flow: Anchor
your presence in the body by moving your consciousness to different
parts of the body and allow it to linger there for a moment. Combine it
with deep breathing if you’d like. You do not need to be visual, just
imagine, or pretend the consciousness is in the head, make a note of
what it is like. Now drop it down to the throat, then to the heart. What
is it like now? Acknowledge it and move it to another spot. Again this
can be done any time, anywhere.

Channel Your Inner Michelangelo: Channeling
your creative energy is a great way to cultivate presence. Even though
our New York apartment does not allow me the space to spread my oil
paints, I have taken to the hobby of adult coloring
which is extremely soothing. My sweetheart is a drummer and can always
step into his inner-bliss in his Brooklyn drum studio. But please
remember, you don’t have to be Leonardo da Vinci, a Mariinsky trained
ballet dancer, a Berkeley graduate or the understudy for Phantom of the
Opera to do this. Singing in the shower, drawing stick figures, baking
for your neighbors and making crafts for your Etsy shop are all
fantastic ways to embody the present moment.

Why So Serious? Laughter
instantly brings you back to this moment and this is why Seinfeld is
still having its reruns. No one needs to be taught the physical and
emotional benefits of having a sense of humor, even the joker from
Batman, among all his faults understood the importance of letting his
hair loose though he has obviously taken the idea too far. The point is,
reality is really happening in our heads and two people can have two
very different responses to the same situation. That BO in the subway is
not dissipating whether I grind my teeth or laugh at my own silliness
for attempting to fight it with the thoughts in my head. It is up to us
to find humor in life and laugh whenever we can.

Popping Bubbles: My
mind used to be like a yenta who didn’t sleep, as a result, I didn’t
sleep for over a decade. I decided with everything she said, rather than
entering a conversation with her which would only strengthen the yenta,
I would imagine the thought being a bubble and watch the bubble rise
from the bottom of the lake to the top. As the bubble surfaced, it would
pop on its own. It was a fun way to passively allow the thoughts go if I
did not get too carried away by the effort of creating bubbles.
Nonetheless, the point here is to practice being aware of the thoughts
without resisting them or giving them your energy.

That Thought Is Not Mine: This
one takes a bit of practice and self-awareness. Most of our thoughts
are not ours. At birth, we are born into a tribe whose very beliefs,
values, fears and judgments are passed onto us. In addition, our
thoughts are influenced daily by media, politicians, and anything that
makes its way into our mind. Without constant self-inquiry and inner
house cleaning, other people are essentially telling us how to live our
lives.

When a thought enters the mind that
says, “I am a failure,” “I am fat” or “I need to risk my life to run
across the street to save myself 2 seconds,” you can bet that thought
has been filtered by a limiting belief that does not belong to you
because your higher self always speaks to you with love, compassion and
inspiration. A simple way that depletes the energy behind the thought
without declaring world war on it can simple be practicing saying to
yourself, “That thought isn’t mine.” If the source of the thought
naturally comes to you, more power to you. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t
matter. Just the acknowledgement and believing in this statement renders
the thought powerless.

Embrace the present.

For now, living in a city that never
sleeps – my home for the past 22 years – I am making a pledge to allow
and embrace every moment knowing that this is why I am here: to call
forth my Being so I may embrace the Present.

Will you make the same pledge, wherever you are?

“This moment is as it should be,
because the whole universe is as it should be. The moment — the one
you’re experiencing right now– is the culmination of all the moments you
have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the
entire universe is as it is.”

About the author:

Juliet Tang is a Spiritual Life Coach,
Certified Hypnotist and Reiki Master who works with individuals from
around the world to Heal blockages, Awaken to their true powerful nature
and consciously Create lives of wellness, love, purpose and freedom.
Juliet offers unique customized Skype sessions that are a combination of
transformative spiritual life coaching and trance work in addition to
past life regression, intuitive energy healing, mindfulness and
visualization techniques to empower her clients to tap into the infinite
source energy that is accessible to all so they may transcend
limitations, experience quantum leaps and live lives that are extensions
of their dreams.

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About Me

18 years old, having cleaned out my HS library, I concluded the only ambition worth having was becoming a great genius. An inner voice cheered. Yet it is my path I have shared much to the Human Gesalt. Mar 2017 - 4.56 Mil Pg Views, March 2013 - Posted my paper introducing CLOUD COSMOLOGY & NEUTRAL NEUTRINO described as the SPACE TIME PENDULUM. Sep 2010 -My essay titled A NEW METRIC WITH APPLICATIONS TO PHYSICS AND SOLVING CERTAIN HIGHER ORDERED DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS has been published in Physics Essays(AIP) June 2010 quarterly. 40 years ago I took an honors degree in applied mathematics from the University of Waterloo. My interest was Relativity and my last year there saw me complete a 900 level course under Hanno Rund on his work in Relativity. I continued researching new ideas and knowledge since that time and I have prepared a book for publication titled Paradigms Shift. I maintain my blog as a day book and research tool to retain data, record impressions, interpretations and to introduce new insights to readers.